DICOTYLEDONS PAPAVERACE^E DIAGRAM 10. 181 



FAMILY PAP^VERACEZE. 



[ DIAGRAM 10. ] 



The name of this family is derived from the Latin word for 

 poppy. Contrary to the families which we have just been noticing, 

 it includes plants with a coloured corolla, which is bright red in 

 the corn poppy. The calyx is formed of two parts, which fall off 

 when the bud opens. The corolla has four petals, and the stamens 

 are very numerous. The pistil is already very large, and is of the 

 same form as the fruit which will succeed it, 

 the so-called poppy-head. Several holes 

 open at the top of the ripe capsule, to allow 

 the seeds, which are very small, to escape. 

 On closely observing them, their surface is 

 seen to be as it were chagrined ; they are Poppy Flower, 

 bean-shaped, and very numerous. 



Some kinds of poppy are cultivated for their seed, from which 

 oil is extracted ; but the chief use of the plant is in medicine. 



The poppy-heads contain a substance which produces sleep and 

 relieves pain. In hot countries, incisions are made in the stalk of 

 poppies in flower, and a white juice like that of the spurge exudes 

 from them. It turns brown on exposure to the air ; it is scraped 

 off and sold under the name of opium. This substance is much 

 used by doctors, and it has the property, like the poppy head, of 

 causing sleep, and relieving attacks of pain. 



The Celandine, which grows by road-sides, belongs to the poppy 

 family, and may be known by its yellow and very acrid milk, 

 which is sometimes used to burn off warts. 



Other curious plants of the same family are the white and 

 yellow water-lilies, which unfold their leaves and flowers on the 

 surface of ponds and slow rivers. The buds grow at the bottom 

 of the water, and rise to the surface to open. But the flower closes 

 every evening, and sinks under water for the night. Next morning 

 it rises again to the surface, and opens afresh till evening. 



